While I do write about the Bulls and NBA fairly regularly, I’ve been mostly on Bears coverage here lately as Eli continues his honeymoon in Europe! And over on the Bears page, I do a post called the “24 Hour Rule.” I wait one full day after each game โ letting myself calm down and take a step back โ before putting pen to page.
Now, the NBA moves a bit quicker than the NFL, but I’m attempting the same practice here following last night’s Bulls game. And although there wasn’t a ton to focus on (Jalen Smith was solid off the bench, Lonzo Ball returned, and they did try to play faster/shoot more threes), I keep gravitating back to one big, positive โ Zach LaVine looked GOOD. And I think that might be the most important thing to watch early in the season.
Yes, we want Coby White to take another step forward, Patrick Williams to be more aggressive, Matas Buzelis to develop, etc. But those are going to be season-long projects and we have 82 games to see them through. The most important thing for Chicago in the immediate future is for Zach LaVine to look like the all-star version of himself so his trade value boosts back up. His injury issues combined with his inability to “impact winning” (at least in other teams’ eyes) and tough contract to stomach caused his trade value to TANK last year.
It’s going to take a larger sample size for teams around the league to start biting at any LaVine bait in the trade market again. But it’s impossible to say last night wasn’t a step in that direction.
Things change fast in the NBA. All of a sudden, he’s one more year into that deal and he has a healthy foot. He’s showing more of a willingness to fit into what’s best for the team as opposed to just dominating the ball. If things trend in the right direction early, the market will develop.
Last night, in his first showcase, he more than passed the eye test. He was lights out from deep, dropped 27 points, and grabbed five boards. Sure, he had seven turnovers, which isn’t great. But if a team like the Lakers comes calling, he’ll be in more of an off-the-ball/catch-and-shoot role anyway.
If nights like last night are more the norm than an outlier in the first month of the season, teams will be interested. The return might still not be massive, but the Bulls might not have to attach an asset to move him. Someone please send LeBron James last night’s LaVine highlights please and thanks.
Who Might Want Zach LaVine?
It’s still a little early to be figuring out potential suitors for LaVine’s services, but it’s hard not to start with both teams in Los Angeles.
LaVine and the Lakers have been tied together seemingly forever. LeBron likes him. He fits into what they have offensively and can be a perfect catch-and-shoot option for when James drives into traffic and draws defenders in. Plus, the Lakers have first-round picks to spend, and we know LeBron isn’t afraid to force the Lakers hand to use them on win-now pieces.
Do you really think LeBron James cares about the Lakers 1st Round picks in 2028, 2029, or 2030? Absolutely not. And in the past, LA has had no issues letting him influence personnel and trade decisions. So if LaVine looks good in the first quarter of the season, and the Lakers get off to a middling start, it’s not at all difficult to imagine LeBron angling for a trade to be made there.
The other logical option at least right now is the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard is out “indefinitely” to start the season due to recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him at the end of last season. We know when Kawhi has issues like this, they tend to linger all season. James Harden is still around and playing very good basketball, but with Kawhi hurt and Paul Georgie now in Philly, the Clippers could use some more star power.
Not only do the Clips want to maximize their title window, but they just opened the brand-new Intuit Dome (which is pretty awesome). The last thing owner Steve Ballmer wants after moving into his new, expensive, high-end stadium is to have a bad team in a sports town that isn’t always excited to support struggling teams.
The Clippers would also have the contracts to balance out LaVine’s $43 million cap hit, but their draft capital doesn’t kick in until 2030, as pretty much all of their picks up until then have been moved.
So again, nothing is likely to happen in the immediate future. But last night was at least one single step in the right direction in establishing Zach LaVine’s market. It takes two sides to make a deal, but luckily the Lakers and Clippers both on paper seem like matches here, and they have people in charge who would have the motivation to try and pull off a deal.
So as we root on Zach LaVine to start the season, Bulls fans, it might behoove us as well to be fans of whoever the Clippers or Lakers play on a given night. The worse the start, the more desperate those teams might get to bring in more talent.